U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced earlier this week that the Justice Department will back lawsuits brought by local governments against manufacturers and distributors of prescription painkillers that have fueled the current opioid epidemic. The crisis killed 64,000 people in 2016 and cost the U.S. an estimated $115 billion in 2017.

The Justice Department has established a task force, the Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Unit, to target manufacturers who have played a role in furthering the epidemic.

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